Aquileia: City of Antiquity

Description

• Visit the city's remarkable cathedral with its sequence of 4th century mosaics

• Journey across a beautiful lagoon to find the cobbled streets and courtyards of Grado, home to historical churches with 6th century mosaics

• Discover the Lombard Temple and medieval Duomo in Cividale, high above the Natisone River

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Aquileia, once described by Emperor Justinian as “the greatest of all towns in the West”, is today a little known but important Roman city perched on the Adriatic coastline. As a hugely important strategic city in the Roman Empire during the 1st century AD, Aquileia served as a crossroads, with a wide trading network between Rome and the East.

From 182 BC, when it became a Roman colony amid the local Gallic peoples, until the arrival of Huns, Goths and Lombards in the late imperial and early medieval period, Aquileia was revered for its military and economic assets as well as its cultural and spiritual magnificence. Our tour takes in the tranquil cypress-lined forum and harbour, delights in themselves, but the city’s crowning glory is contained within its magnificent Basilica, a remarkable sequence of 4th century mosaics that provide some of the oldest and most illustrious Paleo-Christian memoirs in Western Europe.

Nearby, we journey across a picturesque ‘Venetian’ lagoon into the beautifully situated town of Grado, a maze of cobbled streets and courtyards with splendid mosaics from the 6th century located in two of its historical churches. Cividale is located high above the Natisone River, and although little remains of this important Roman town (its original name of Forum Iulii gives the modern region of Friuli its name), we will explore the fine medieval Duomo, whose foundations date back to the 8th century, and the lovely Lombard Temple from the same period.

Our final excursion is to the enchanting seaport of Trieste. A cultural meeting-point throughout its history, today the city is the site of important Austro-Hungarian architecture alongside superb Byzantine mosaics, a Roman theatre and the medieval Castello di San Giusto.

The tour will be based at the Astoria Hotel in the city of Udine, where there is a superb Duomo, and two interesting art galleries, including a pictorial cycle by the Venetian artist Tiepolo.

Please note that sites in Italy can close at short notice for restoration works, and so some adjustments may be made nearer the time.

This tour will be led by Andrew Wilson, BA, BD, FSAScot. Andrew studied archaeology then theology before working overseas as an archaeologist, specialising in Roman frontier systems and Byzantine mosaics. He has led many tours for ACE in the Greco-Roman world, and also several in Britain, with a particular emphasis on the archaeology of his native Scotland.

Tour Director

Itinerary

Day

1

Depart London Gatwick 1235 on British Airways, arriving Venice 1540. Transfer to Udine in the Friuli-Venezia Giulia region for five nights at the Astoria Hotel.

Day

2

Morning lecture. Whole day excursion exploring the ancient city of Aquileia including the Basilica di Santa Maria Assunta (mosaics depicting scenes of the prophet Jonah, gospels, apostles and portraits of patrons, 11th and 12th century Byzantine frescoes), followed by the Paleo-Christian Museum, Roman forum and Archaeological Museum.

Day

4

Morning lecture followed by visits in Grado: Basilica of Sant’Euphemia, Santa Maria delle Grazie and old town. Return to Udine via Palmanova (late 16th century defences). Late afternoon visits to Piazza Libertà (15th century town hall and clock tower) and optional visit to Udine’s Civic Museums of History and Art (housed in the 16th century castle).